Diminishing hope and utopian thinking: faculty leadership under neoliberal regime

• Published in: Journal of educational administration and history Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 106 - 120
• Main Authors: Bosetti, Lynn, Heffernan, Troy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Leeds Routledge 03.04.2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Administrator Attitudes; Administrator Role; change; College Administration; College Faculty; critical hope; Deans; Educational leadership; emotional labour; Ethics; Foreign Countries; Futures (of Society); Higher education; leadership; Leadership Styles; Neoliberalism; Organizational Change; Strategic Planning; Teacher Administrator Relationship; Universities; University administration; Well Being; Australia
• ISSN: 0022-0620; 1478-7431
• DOI: 10.1080/00220620.2021.1910219

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on dean's leadership and explores the impact of corporate managerial practices and neoliberal ideology on the mindset and actions of 15 deans and heads of school in eight universities in Australia. We offer perspectives of leaders as emotional individuals who on a daily basis attempt to live up to and manage the contractions of their belief and role expectations. These leaders share their everyday experiences, struggles and vulnerabilities in restructuring their organisational unit to address the strategic goals of the university. We draw upon research on the emotional labour of leadership in higher education, the ethics of disrupting culture, and critical hope to provide insight into how these leaders move their faculty or school toward an imagined future and the impact on this work on their wellbeing.